Book to Box Office: “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children”

Cast:

Director:

Tim Burton

Plot Analysis:

September 30 marked the release of “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children”, adapted from the book trilogy by Ransom Riggs and directed by Tim Burton. The story follows a young man traveling to an island to unravel the mysteries behind his grandfather’s death. On the way, he meets children with peculiar talents, uncovering the truth in his grandfather’s bedtime stories. Chaos is quick to follow, however, and Jake must face powerful enemies and mysteries that span time. Jake must also deal with his own “peculiarness” in order to save his newfound friends.

Details are cut in many book adaptations to shorten a film to proper “sitting length,” and this one is no exception. Book-lovers are frustrated to discover Burton swapped the peculiarities of two beloved and main characters. Emma, the love interest to Jake, played by Ella Purnell, has her power swapped with peculiar Olive, played by Lauren McCrostie. This immediate difference felt like an intrusion forced upon the loyal fandom. Thankfully, though, Burton made this change cautiously and expertly crafted well-rounded character personalities that adapted to the variance.

Other differences include changing of the children’s ages and the mixing of book one and two without really finishing either. Overall, Burton created an exciting, action packed film that will have viewers hanging on the edge of their seats thanks to suspenseful fight scenes and narrow escapes.

Overall:

While this movie does not follow the book page for page, it embodies the thrill and relationships of the book with ease. Members of the fandom may leave the theater only slightly distracted by the overall changes.Fascinated by the film quality and story line, it is unclear if there will be a sequel. Fans can only hope Burton will continue giving justice to their treasured book and all its characters.

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2 Comments

Film adaptions from books are always going to be different. I think one of the main reasons things are added or taken out of the movie from the book, is because some of the book’s material can be hard to translate onto film. Also everybody who reads a book imagines it different. Everyone has their own interpretation of the book, that’s why many people will not like the movie even if it’s a good movie and just doesn’t have everything accurate to the book.

Excellent point Joy! I definitely agree that if directors were to adapt films exactly to to book it would make for and insanely long film. That is why it is always good to walk into theaters with an open mind and view each film as an interpretation of sorts, some will always be more abstract than others. I was happy to see what Burton had done with the Peculiar franchise though. Thank you for your feedback, and I hope you will continue to read stories from the Camasonian and offer your insights!